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a 


The  Diiiei1  of  Introducing  Noxious  Animals  and 


T.  S.  PALMER, 

Assistant  Chief  of  Biological  Surrey. 


Reprint  from  Yearbook  of  Department  ok  Agriculture  for  1803. 


11)007 1 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Introduction _ 87 

Means  of  dispersal 87 

Domesticated  species  may  become  noxious 88 

Sources  of  danger  from  noxious  species 90 

Rats  and  mice 91 

Rabbits 93 

The  mongoose : 93 

Ferrets,  stoats,  and  weasels 96 

Flying  foxes,  or  fruit  bats '. 96 

The  English  sparrow 9S 

The  starling 101 

The  mina 103 

The  kohlmeise,  or  great  titmouse 104 

The  skylark,  green  linnet,  and  black  thrush 106 

Need  of  legislation 108 

Summary ...   109 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PLATES. 

Page. 

Plate  VIII.  Mongoose  (Herpestes  m u ngt ») 92 

TEXT  FIGURES. 

Fig.  1.  Flying  fox  (Pteropus  sp. ) 97 

2.  Map  showing  spread  of  English  sparrow  in  the  United  States !>(.» 

3.  Starling  (Sturnus  vulgaris) 101 

4.  Mina  (Acridotheres  tristis) 103 

5.  Kohlmeise  (Parns  major) 104 

6.  Chickadee  (Parus  atricapillus) 104 

u 


THE  DANGER  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS 
AND  BIRDS. 

By  T.  S.  Palmer. 
Assistant  ( 'hief  of  Biological  Survey. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Acclimatization  of  plants  and  animals  has  attracted  ail  cut  ion  in 
all  parts  of  the  world.  Useful  or  curious  species  have  been  intro- 
duced from  one  country  to  another  with  varying  degrees  of  success; 
some  have  failed  while  others  have  become  acclimated,  and  occa- 
sionally have  increased  to  such  an  extent  as  to  usurp  the  places  of 
native  species.  In  comparing  the  results  of  the  introduction  of 
plants  and  of  animals,  the  important  difference  between  these  two 
classes  of  experiments  should  not  be  lost  sight  of.  Plants,  on  the  one 
hand,  are  introduced  almost  without  exception  for  purposes  of  cultiva- 
tion, and  are  therefore  kept  somewhat  under  control.  Occasionally, 
under  favorable  conditions,  they  "escape  "  and  increase  so  rapidly  that 
they  become  troublesome  weeds.  Chicory  and  wild  garlic  of  the 
Eastern  States  and  the  water  hyacinth  of  Florida  are  familiar  exam- 
ples of  weeds  originally  introduced  as  useful  or  ornamental  plants. 
Animals,  on  the  contrary,  unless  intended  for  pets  or  for  exhibition 
in  menageries  or  zoological  gardens,  are  seldom  kept  in  captivity, 
but  are  liberated  and  allowed  to  live  as  nearly  as  possible  under  nat- 
ural conditions.  Only  the  strongest  and  hardiest  species  survive, 
and  in  adapting  themselves  to  new  surroundings  necessarily  eau^<- 
sonu'  change  in  the  existing  fauna.  If  prolific,  they  are  Likely  to 
become  abundant  in  a  short  time;  if  they  crowd  out  indigenous  spe- 
cies, they  are  regarded  as  nuisances.  Hence,  it  is  sometimes  said  that 
acclimatization  ot  animals  has  produced  far  less  satisfactory  results 
than  that  of  plants,  but  the  comparison  is  made  bet  ween  the  relativeby 
small  number  of  animals,  birds,  and  insects  purposely  imported  and 
allowed  to  run  wild  and  a  long  list  of  useful  and  ornamental  plants 
carefully  kept  under  cultivation. 

MEANS   OF    DISPERSAL. 

Animals  are  transported  from  one  country  to  another  or  to  distant 
islands  either  by  accident  or  by  the  direct  agency  of  man.  Horses, 
cattle,  sheep,  goats,  pigs,  dogs,  and  cats  are  now  almost  cosmopolitan, 
but  they  owe  their  wide  distribution  entirely  to  man,  who  has  carried 
them  with  him  to  all  parts  of  the  earth.     Accidental  distribution  is 

87 


88  YEARBOOK    OF    THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    AGRICULTURE. 

much  less  common  in  the  ease  of  mammals  and  birds  than  among-  the 
smaller  plants  and  insects,  and  species  which  have  gained  a  foothold 
in  distant  lands  have  almost  always  been  intentionally  introduced. 

Certain  small  mammals  have,  however,  accidentally  found  Their  way 
in  vessels  from  one  port  to  another.  Two  or  three  species  of  rats 
and  the  house  mouse  of  Europe  have  thus  become  widely  dispersed 
over  the  globe.  Fruit  vessels  plying  between  ports  of  the  United 
States  and  Central  or  South  America  occasionally  bring  snakes, 
small  mammals,  and  insects  in  bunches  of  bananas.  In  November, 
1895,  a  Central  American  mouse,  of  the  genus  Oryzomys,  concealed  in 
a  bunch  of  bananas  shipped  from  Puerto  Limon,  Costa  Rica,  was  cap- 
tured alive  in  a  commission  house  in  Washington,  D.  C.  A  young 
murine  opossum  from  tropical  America  was  discovered  in  a  bunch  of 
bananas  at  Ames,  Iowa,  during  the  summer  of  1882,  and  was  kept 
alive  for  some  time.  If  such  cases  were  frequent,  it  can  be  readily 
seen  how  a  species  might  gain  a  foothold  in  new  regions,  provided 
the  conditions  were  favorable  for  its  increase. 

During  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years  Bering  Island,  one  of  the 
Commander  group  in  Bering  Sea,  has  been  overrun  with  the  com- 
mon Siberian  red-backed  mouse  (JEvotomys  rut  this).  This  species 
was  formerly  unknown  on  the  islands,  but  has  been  introduced  since 
1870,  probably  in  firewood  brought  from  Kamchatka.  Within  ten 
years  it  spread  all  over  the  island  from  the  beaches  to  the  mountains 
in  the  interior.  It  occurs  both  in  the  swamps  and  on  the  sand  dunes, 
and  has  become  a  pest  in  the  huts  of  the  natives.  In  1889  it  was  still 
confined  to  Bering  Island,  but  will  probably  reach  Copper  Island  in 
time. 

DOMESTICATED   SPECIES  MAY   BECOME   NOXIOUS. 

Domesticated  animals,  like  cultivated  plants,  may  run  wild  and 
become  so  abundant  as  to  be  extremely  injurious.  AVild  horses  an- 
said  to  have  become  so  numerous  in  some  parts  of  Australia  that  I  hey 
consume  the  feed  needed  for  sheep  and  other  animals,  and  hunters  are 
employed  to  shoot  them.  In  some  of  the  Western  States  they  have 
also  become  a  nuisance,  and  in  Nevada  a  law  was  passed  in  1897  per- 
mitting wild  horses  to  be  shot.  Recent  reports  from  Washington 
indicate  that  cayuses  are  considered  of  so  Little  value  thai  they  are 
killed  and  used  for  bait  in  poisoning  wolves  and  coyotes. 

Pigs  have  run  wild  in  some  of  the  Southern  States  and  also  on  cer- 
tain islands,  where,  as  on  the  Galapagos,  they  were  originally  intro- 
duced to  furnish  food  for  crews  of  vessels  in  need  of  fresh  meal. 
According  to  Dr.  i'inscli,'  they  were  introduced  into  New  Zealand  by 
Captain  Cook  about  1770,  and  soon  becoming  wild,  increased  to  a 
remarkable  degree.  A  century  later  wild  pigs  were  so  abundant  in 
the  flax   thickets  of  the  province  of  Taranaki,  on  the  North  Island, 

1  Globus,  LXIX,  1896,  Nr.  2. 


DANGER  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS  ANT)  BIRDS.        89 

that  a  hunter  could  shoot  fifty  in  a  single  day.  Dr.  Finsch  also  cites 
a  case  mentioned  by  Eochstetter  in  which  25,000  wild  pigs  were  said 
to  have  been  killed  by  three  hunters  in  less  than  two  years. 

Sheep  and  goats  when  numerous  arc  likely  to  cause  widespread 
injury,  particularly  in  forested  regions.  An  instructive  example  of 
the  damage  done  by  goats  is  thai  on  St.  Helena,  described  by  Wallace.1 
St.  Helena  is  a  mountainous  island  scarcely  50  square  miles  in  extent, 
and  its  highest  summits  reach,  an  elevation  of  2, 700  feet.  A1  the  time 
of  its  discovery,  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  it  is 
said  to  have  been  covered  by  a  dense  forest;  to-day  it  is  described  as 
a  comparatively  barren  rocky  desert.  This  change  has  been  Largely 
broughl  about  by  goats  first  introduced  by  the  Port  uguese  in  L513,  and 
which  multiplied  so  fast  that  in  seventy-five  years  they  existed  by 
thousands.  Browsing  on  the  young  trees  and  shrubs,  they  rapidly 
brought  about  the  destruction  of  the  vegetation  which  protected  the 
steep  slopes.  With  the  disappearance  of  the  undergrowth,  began  the 
washing  of  the  soil  by  tropical  rains  and  the  destruction  of  the  forests. 
In  1709  the  governor  reported  that  the  timber  was  rapidly  disappear- 
ing and  that  the  goats  should  be  destroyed  if  the  forests  were  to  be 
preserved.  This  advice  was  not  heeded,  and  only  a  century  later,  in 
1810,  another  governor  reported  the  total  destruction  of  the  forests 
by  the  goats,  and  in  consequence  an  expense  of  $13,600  (£2,729)  in 
one  year  for  the  importation  of  fuel  for  Government  use. 

The  Santa  Barbara  Islands,  off  the  coast  of  southern  ( ialifornia,  and 
the  island  of  Guadalupe,  off  the  Lower  California  coast,  are  utilized 
as  ranges  for  goats.  All  these  islands  are  dry  and  more  or  less  covered 
with  brush,  but  arborescent  vegetation  is  comparatively  scarce.  The 
goats  practically  run  wild,  and  already  exist  in  considerable  numbers. 
(  Mi  Santa  Catalina,  one  of  the  Santa  Barbara  group,  wild-goat  hunting 
is  one  of  the  diversions  afforded  tourists,  and  is  considered  one  of  the 
principal  attractions  of  this  popular  summer  resort.  As  yet  the  goats 
have  not  been  on  the  islands  long  enough  to  cause  any  serious  effects 
on  the  vegetation,  and  they  may  never  bring  about  the  ruin  which  has 
been  wrought  on  St.  Helena.  But  it  is  scarcely  possible  for  the  islands 
to  be  grazed  by  goats  for  an  indefinite  length  of  time  without  suffering 
serious  damage. 

House  cats  are  often  greater  pests  than  commonly  supposed. 
When  numerous  about  the  suburbs  of  cities  and  towns,  they  are 
apt  to  forage  for  a  living  either  from  necessity  or  choice,  and  their 
food  is  by  no  means  confined  to  rats  and  mice.  They  are  constantly 
on  the  watch  for  birds,  but  it  is  impossible  even  to  estimate  how 
many  they  destroy.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  in  some  places  the 
decrease  in  native  birds  is  largely  due  to  their  presence.  Where 
cats  have  run  wild  on  isolated  islands,  their  work  can  be  more  readily 
appreciated.     On  Sable  Island,  off  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  they  were 

'Island  Life.  1880,  pp.  283-286. 


90  YEARBOOK    OF    THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    AGRICULTURE. 

introduced  about  1880  and  rapidly  exterminated  the  rabbits,  which 
had  been  in  possession  of  the  island  for  half  a  century.  In  one  of  the 
harbors  of  Kerguelen  Island,  southeast  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  cats 
were  allowed  to  run  wild  upon  a  little  islet  known  as  Cat  Island,  which 
has  been  used  as  a  wintering  place  for  sealers  for  many  years.  Here 
they  live  in  holes  in  the  ground,  preying  upon  sea  birds  and  their 
young,  and  are  said  to  have  developed  such  extraordinary  ferocity 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  tame  them  even  when  captured  young. 
Dr.  W.  L.  Abbott  states  that  on  Aldabra,  about  200  miles  northwest  of 
Madagascar,  cats  are  common  on  the  main  island,  and  have  com- 
pletely exterminated  the  flightless  rail  (Rougetius  alddbranus),  an 
interesting  bird,  peculiar  to  this  group  of  islands.  They  are  also 
numerous  on  Clorioso  Island,  120  miles  to  the  southeast,  and  in  con- 
sequence birds  are  less  common  even  than  on  Aldabra.1 

The  Chatham  Islands,  500  miles  east  of  New  Zealand,  were 
colonized  about  fifty  years  ago;  cats,  dogs,  and  pigs  were  introduced, 
and  the  native  birds,  represented  by  fifty-five  species,  including 
thirteen  not  found  elsewhere,  have  since  greatly  decreased  in  num- 
bers. Two  of  the  most  interesting  birds  are  land  rails  of  the  genus 
Cabalus.  Dr.  Dieffenbach,  naturalist  of  the  New  Zealand  Company, 
who  visited  the  islands  in  1840,  states  that  one  of  these  rails  {Cabalus 
dieffenbach /),  called  by  the  natives  "meriki,"  was  formerly  com- 
mon, but  since  the  introduction  of  cats  and  dogs  it  has  become  very 
scarce.  It  is  now  probably  extinct,  and  the  closely  related  species 
C.  modesius  will  doubtless  soon  suffer  a  similar  fate,  since  the  islet  of 
Mangare,  to  which  it  is  confined,  has  recently  been  invaded  by  cats.2 

SOURCES   OF   DANGER  FROM  NOXIOUS   SPECIES. 

The  animals  and  birds  which  have  thus  far  become  most  trouble- 
some when  introduced  into  foreign  lands  are  nearly  all  natives  of 
the  Old  World.  The  mammals  belong  to  three. orders:  (1)  Rodents, 
including  rats  of  two  or  three  species,  the  house  mouse,  and  rabbit 
of  western  Asia  or  southern  Europe;  (2)  Carnivores,  represented  by 
the  stoat,  weasel,  and  common  house  cat  of  Europe,  and  the  mon- 
goose of  India;  (3)  Cheiroptera,  represented  by  large  fruit-eating  bats 
or  flying  foxes  of  Australia  and  the  Malay  Archipelago.  Flying  foxes 
have  not  yet  been  actually  introduced,  but  are  likely  to  be  carried  to 
different  islands  in  the  Pacific,  and  are  dangerous  because  of  their 
depredations  on  fruit.  The  birds  comprise  the  house  sparrow  and 
starling  of  Europe,  and  the  mina  of  India.  Other  species,  usually 
regarded.as  beneficial  in  their  native  homes,  such  as  the  European 
skylark,  green  linnet,  black  thrush  or  blackbird,  and  the  great  tit- 
mouse or  kohlmeise,  are  likely  to  prove  injurious  in  new  surround- 
ings.    Most  of  these  species  have  extended  their  range  from  the  east 

1  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.,  XVI,  1894,  pp.  76^.  764. 
-'Forbes.  Ibis,  6th  ser.,  V,  1893,  pp.  523,  531-533. 


DANGER  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS  AND  BIRDS.        91 

toward  I  he  west,  although  the  minus  have  been  carried  in  i  he  opposite 
direction  to  New  Zealand  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and  flying  foxes 
arc  likely  to  extend  northward  and  eastward.  The  main  danger  for  I  he 
United  Slates  lies  in  species  native  to  central  and  southern  Europe 
and  western  Asia,  but  tropical  species,  particularly  of  India,  inighl 
become  acclimated  in  the  Southern  States.  In  order  to  show  how 
these  animals  and  birds  have  already  spread,  and  the  damage  they 
have  done,  it  will  be  necessary  to  refer  briefly  to  the  history  of  each 
species. 

RATS   AND   MICE. 

Rats  and  mice  are  among  the  greatest  pests  with  which  man  has  to 
contend,  and  the  annoyance  and  damage  which  they  occasion  are 
beyond  computation.  They  are  ubiquitous,  abundant  alike  in  the 
largest  cities  and  on  the  most  distant  islands  of  the  sea.  They  have 
not  been  intentionally  introduced  anywhere,  but  have  found  their 
way  by  means  of  vessels  to  all  parts  of  the  earth.  Small  islands,  pop- 
ulated with  rats  from  wrecks,  or  otherwise,  are  occasionally  overrun 
by  these  animals.  On  the  island  of  Aldabra,  already  mentioned,  rats 
fairly  swarm,  and  are  very  destructive  to  the  gigantic  native  land 
tortoise,  eating  the  young  as  soon  as  they  are  hatched.  Sable  Island, 
off  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  has  suffered  from  several  plagues  of  rats, 
and  it  is  said  that  the  first  superintendent  of  the  light  station  and  his 
men  were  at  one  time  threatened  with  starvation  owing  to  the  inroads 
made  on  their  stores  by  rats. 

The  common  brown  rot. — The  common  brown  rat,  known  also  as  the 
wharf  rat  and  Norway  rat  {Mus  decumanus),  was  originally  a  native 
of  western  China,1  and  until  two  hundred  years  ago  was  unknown  in 
Europe  or  America.  It  is  very  prolific,  producing  from  fourto  twelve 
young  at  a  birth  several  times  a  year,  and  has  spread  so  rapidly  that 
at  the  present  time  it  is  nearly  cosmopolitan.  In  the  autumn  of  L727 
large  numbers  of  brown  rats  entered  Europe  by  swimming  across  the 
Volga,  and,  gaining  a  foothold  in  the  province  of  Astrakan  in  eastern 
Russia,  spread  westward  over  central  Europe.  Five  years  later  (17.'):.1) 
they  reached  England  by  vessels  from  western  India.  The  brown  rat 
appeared  in  east  Prussia  about  1750,  and  in  Denmark  and  Switzerland 
in  L809.  It  reached  the  eastern  coast  of  the  United  States  about  1775, 
and  in  1825,  according  to  Sir  John  Richardson,  had  extended  as  far 
west  in  Canada  as  Kingston,  Ontario.  By  1855  it  was  abundant  ai  sev- 
eral points  on  the  Pacific  coast,  including  San  Francisco,  Cal. ;  Astoria, 
Oreg.,  and  Steilacoom,  Wash.,  and  its  range  on  the  west  coast  now 
extends  as  far  north  as  Alaska,  at  Sitka,  Kadiak,  and  even  Unalaska. 


1  Blanford  (Mammals  of  India,  1888-1891 .  p.  409),  who  gives  Chinese  Mongolia  as 
its  probable  original  habitat,  states  that  it  is  not  indigenous  to  India,  and  is 
unknown  in  Persia  and  Afghanistan,  but  suggests  that  it  will  probably  be  intro- 
duced into  the  two  latter  countries  as  soon  as  wheeled  vehicles  take  the  place  of 
pack  animals. 


92  YEARBOOK    OF    THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    AGRICULTURE. 

At  the  present  time  it  is  probably  abundant  in  all  the  larger  cities  of 
the  United  States  except  in  the  South,  where  it  is  replaced  by  another 
species. 

Tht  black,  or  house,  rat. — The  black  rat,  or  house  rat  (Mus  rattus), 
was  in  all  probability  originally  a  native  of  Asia.  The  time  of  its 
introduction  into  Europe  is  uncertain,  but  in  the  middle  ages  it  was 
the  common  house  rat  of  central  Europe.  The  date  of  its  introduc- 
tion into  the  New  World  is  placed  as  early  as  1544,  or  more  than 
two  hundred  years  previous  to  that  of  the  brown  rat.  It  evidently 
became  very  generally  distributed  along  the  coasts  and  in  the  principal 
seaports,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  present  century  was  known  as  far 
north  as  Halifax  and  Montreal,  Canada,  and  on  the  Pacific  coast  at  San 
Diego  and  Humboldt  Bay,  California.  Since  the  introduction  of  the 
brown  rat,  the  black  rat  has  become  comparatively  rare  in  most  places 
where  the  former  is  abundant.  In  the  Laccadive  Islands,  in  the  Indian 
Ocean,  the  black  rat  seems  to  have  modified  its  habits  and  become 
arboreal.  It  is  said  to  live  in  the  crowns  of  the  cocoanut  trees  with- 
out descending  to  the  ground,  and  to  do  great  damage  by  biting  off 
the  nuts,  upon  which  it  feeds,  before  they  are  ripe. 

The  roof,  or  white-bellied,  rat. — The  roof  rat,  or  white-bellied  rat 
{Mus  alexandrinus),  is  a  native  of  Egypt,  Nubia,  and  northern 
Africa,  and  evidently  found  its  way  to  America  by  way  of  Italy  and 
Spain  at  an  early  date.  It  probably  reached  this  continent  long 
before  the  brown  rat,  but  the  exact  date  of  its  arrival  is  uncertain. 
It  is  common  in  Brazil,  in  some  parts  of  Mexico,  and  in  the  southern 
United  States,  and  is  known  to  occur  at  least  as  far  north  as  the  Dis- 
mal Swamp,  in  southern  Virginia. 

Tin  housi  mouse. — The  well-known  house  mouse  (Mu, s  musculus) 
is  readily  distinguished  from  the  native  white-bellied  mice  of  North 
America  by  its  nearly  uniform  brownish  color  above  and  below.  It 
is  a  native  of  Europe  and  central  Asia,  but  now  occurs  all  over  the 
world.  In  the  United  States  it  is  found  from  Florida  to  Maine,  and 
from  San  Diego  to  the  Pribilof  Islands.  It  is  not  restricted  to  the 
seaports,  as  it  made  its  way  inland  at  an  early  date.  Sir  John  Rich- 
ardson, in  1829,  mentions  having  seen  a  dead  mouse  in  the  store- 
house of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  at  York  Factory,  among  packages 
of  goods  brought  over  from  England,  and  states  that  the  house- mouse 
was  introduced  at  Engineer  Cantonment,  on  the  Missouri  River,  near 
Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  by  Long's  Expedition  in  1810-20.  By  1855  it  was 
found  at  many  points  in  the  interior,  such  as  Prairie  Mer  Rouge,  La. ; 
Foil  Riley,  Ivans.;  Fort  Pierre,  S.  Dak.;  Fort  Redding,  Cal.,  and 
Pa  it  as,  Coahuila,  Mexico.  It  has  even  penetrated  to  such  points  as 
the  Huachuca  Mountains  in  Arizona,  where  it  was  introduced  about 
1891  in  a  wagonload  of  seed  grain.  It  reached  Bering  Island,  one 
of  the  Commander  group  off,  Kamchatka,  Ln  1870,  in  a  cargo  of  flour 
shipped  from  San  Francisco  in  the  schooner  Justus.     In  the  southern 


DANGER  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS  AND  BIRDS.        93 

hemisphere  it  occurs  at  Punta  Arenas,  Patagonia,  and  is  common  in 
such  out-of-the-way  places  as  Gough  Island,  in  the  middle  of  the 
South  Atlantic,  and  Kerguelen  Island,  southeasl  oi  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  In  short,  its  distribution  is  apparently  limited  only  by  the 
Arctic  and  Antarctic  circles. 


The  common  rabbit  of  Europe  (Lepus  cuniculus)  was  originally 
introduced  into  Australia  for  purposes  of  sport,  and  the  results  of  the 
experiment  are  so  well  known  that  anything  more  than  a  brief  refer- 
ence to  them  is  unnecessary.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  rabbits  were 
liberated  near  Melbourne  about  1864, and  by  1878  had  extended  west- 
ward over  Victoria  and  beyond  the  Murray  River.  They  were  also 
introduced  into  Tasmania  and  New  Zealand,  and  spread  over  the 
country  like  a  scourge.  So  rapidly  did  they  multiply  that  in  1870 
legislative  action  for  their  destruction  was  begun  in  South  Australia, 
and  the  example  was  soon  followed  by  New  Soul  h  Wales,  New  Zealand, 
Queensland,  and  Tasmania.  At  the  present  time  their  range  in  Aus- 
tralia is  probably  equal  in  area  to  that  of  our  three  largest  Stabs 
Texas,  California,  and  Montana.  Millions  of  dollars  have  been  spent 
for  bounties,  poisons,  and  various  other  methods  of  destruction; 
thousands  of  miles  of  rabbit-proof  fences  have  been  built,  and  hun- 
dreds of  schemes  for  destroying  the  animals  have  been  suggested,  but 
nothing  has  yet  been  found  that  will  effectually  exterminate  the  pest. 
Natural  enemies,  such  as  cats  and  other  carnivorous  animals,  have 
been  introduced,  and  in  certain  parts  of  New  Zealand  at  least  have 
become  almost  as  much  a  pest  as  the  rabbits  they  were  intended  to 
kill.  In  1887  no  less  than  19,182,539  rabbits  were  destroyed  in  New 
South  Wales  alone,  but  despite  the  efforts  of  the  Government  and 
private  landowners  the  rabbits  seem  to  be  still  increasing.  In  the 
meantime,  a  great  industry  has  grown  up  in  the  export  of  rabbit 
skins.  For  the  last  five  years  New  Zealand  has  been  shipping  an 
average  of  about  15,000,000  per  annum,  and  since  187:;  has  exported 
more  than  200,000,000.  Recently,  canning  rabbit  meat  for  export  to 
European  markets  is  assuming  larger  proportions  and  gives  promise 
of  developing  into  an  important  industry. 

THE  MONGOOSE. 

The  common  mongoose  of  India  (H<  rpi  sti  s  mungo  or  H.  grisi  us,  PI. 
VIII)  is  a  well-known  destroyer  of  rats,  lizards,  and  snakes,  and  has 
been  introduced  into  Jamaica  and  other  tropical  islands  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ridding  cane  fields  of  rats.  The  annual  loss  which  the  island  of 
Jamaica  formerly  suffered  on  account  of  the  ravages  of  the  introduced 
black  rats  (Mas  rattus)  and  brown  rats  (J/,  decumanus),  and  the 
so-called  "cane-piece  rat,"  including  the  expense  of  destroying  these 
pests,  was  estimated  at  £100,000,  or  $500,000.     Various  remedieswere 


94     YEARBOOK  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

tried,  but  apparently  with  little  success,  until  in  February,  1872,  Mr. 
W.  Bancroft  Espeut  introduced  nine  individuals  of  the  mongoose,  four 
males  and  five  females,  from  India.  These  animals  increased  with 
remarkable  rapidity,  and  soon  spread  to  all  parts  of  the  island,  even 
to  the  tops  of  the  highest  mountains.  A  decrease  in  the  number  of 
rats  was  soon  noticeable,  and  in  18S2,  ten  years  after  the  first  intro- 
duction, the  saving  to  the  sugar  planters  was  said  to  be  £45,000,  or 
8225,000,  per  annum. 

Still  the  mongoose  increased,  and  its  omnivorous  habits  became 
more  and  more  apparent  as  the  rats  diminished.  It  destroyed  young 
pigs,  kids,  lambs,  kittens,  puppies,  the  native  "coney,"  or  capromys, 
poultry,  game,  birds  which  nested  on  or  near  the  ground,  eggs,  snakes, 
ground  lizards,  frogs,  turtles'  eggs,  and  land  crabs.  It  was  also  known 
to  eat  ripe  bananas,  pineapples,  young  corn,  avocado  pears,  sweet 
potatoes,  cocoanuts,  and  other  fruits.  Toward  the  close  of  the  second 
decade  the  mongoose,  originally  considered  very  beneficial,  came  to 
be  regarded  as  the  greatest  pest  ever  introduced  into  the  island. 
Poultry  and  domesticated  animals  suffered  from  its  depredations,  and 
the  short-tailed  capromys  {Capromys  br achy urus),  which  was  formerly 
numerous,  became  almost  extinct  except  in  some  of  the  mountainous 
districts.  The  ground  dove  (Columbigallina  passi  rina)  and  the  quail 
dove  {Geotrygon  montana)  became  rare,  and  the  introduced  bobwhite, 
or  quail,  was  almost  exterminated.  The  peculiar  Jamaica  petrel 
(JEstvelata  caribbma),  which  nested  in  the  mountains  of  the  island, 
likewise  became  almost  exterminated.  Snakes,  represented  by  at 
least  five  species,  all  harmless,  and  lizards,  including  about  twenty 
species,  were  greatly  diminished  in  numbers.  The  same  thing  was 
true  of  the  land  and  fresh-water  tortoises  and  the  marine  turtle 
(Chelont  viridis),  which  formerly  laid  its  eggs  in  abundance  in  the 
loose  sand  on  the  north  coast.  The  destruction  of  insectivorous 
birds,  snakes,  and  lizards  was  followed  by  an  increase  in  several 
injurious  insects,  particularly  ticks,  which  became  a  serious  pest, 
and  a  Coccid  moth,  the  larvae  of  which  bore  into  the  pimento  trees. 
In  1890  a  commission  was  appointed  by  the  Government  to  consider 
whether  measures  should  be  taken  to  reduce  the  number  of  the 
animals,  and  the  evidence  collected  showed  conclusively  that  the  evil 
results  of  the  introduction  of  the  mongoose  far  outweighed  the  bene- 
fits rendered  to  the  sugar  and  coffee  plantations. 

Recently  there  has  been  a  change  in  the  situation,  and  the  mon- 
goose is  now  reported  as  decreasing,  while  certain  birds  and  reptiles, 
particularly  the  ground  lizard,  are  increasing.  Quail  and  pigeons 
are  reported  as  more  numerous,  and  there  is  less  complaint  concerning 
the  destruction  of  poultry.  Thus,  Jamaica  seems  to  have  passed  the 
high-water  mark  of  loss  occasioned  by  rats  and  by  the  mongoose,  and 
while  its  fauna  has  been  modified  by  (he  presence  of  the  intruders. 
both   native  and   introduced  species  are  gradually  accommodating 


Yearbook  U.  S.  Dept  of  Agriculture, 


DANGER  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS  AND  BIRDS.         95 

themselves  to  the  changed  conditions,  and  a  new  balance  of  nature 
is  being  established.1 

According  to  Mr.  Espeut,2  who  originally  introduced  the  mongoose 
into  Jamaica,  large  numbers  of  the  animals  have  been  scut  to  Cuba, 
Puerto  Rico,  Grenada,  Barbados,  Santa  Cruz,  and  elsewhere,  bu1  the 
fate  of  these  shipments,  made  at  least  sixteen  years  ago,  is  now  un- 
known. It  is  now  established  on  Haiti,  as  shown  by  the  capture  of  a 
specimen  at  Santo  Domingo  City  in  the  winter  of  L895,  and  is  gen- 
erally distributed  over  the  island  of  Puerto  Rico.  It  is  also  presenl 
on  the  island  of  Vieques,  east  of  Puerto  Rico,  and  is  abundant  on 
St,  Thomas.  During  a  recent  visit  Mr.  A.  Ii.  Baker  found  it  along 
the  coast  of  Puerto  Rico  at  Arecibo,  San  Juan,  Fajardo,  Arroyo, 
Ponce,  and  Mayaguez,  and  in  the  interior  at  Utuado  and  Ad.juntas. 
It  was  introduced  at  San  Juan  about  1877-7!),  and  although  now 
becoming  a  nuisance,  is  considered  beneficial  by  the  sugar  planters 
who  claim  that  the  rats,  which  were  formerly  very  destructive  to 
cane,  now  do  little  damage.  These  rats  often  live  in  the  tops  of 
the  royal  and  cocoa  palms  and  destroy  cocoanuts  as  well  as  sugar 
cane. 

The  first  efforts  to  introduce  the  mongoose  into  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
were  made  about  1881,  when  a  few  individuals  of  a  huge  species  were 
brought  from  the  East  Indies  and  liberated  on  a  sugar  plantation  in 
the  district  of  Hamakua  on  Hawaii.  These  animals  did  not  breed 
and  soon  disappeared.  A  few  months  later  a  few  pairs  of  a  smaller 
species  wero  imported  from  Calcutta,  but  nearly  all  were  accidentally 
drowned  while  being  landed  near  Hilo.  Soon  afterwards  75  individ- 
uals were  imported  from  Jamaica  by  the  planters  of  Hilo,  and  later 
215  more  were  imported  for  Hamakua.  Here  the  mongoose  is  aiding 
in  the  rapid  extermination  of  some  of  the  native  birds,  particularly 
the  Hawaiian  goose  (Nesocht  n  sandvici  nsis),  which  is  found  only  on 
those  islands  above  an  altitude  of  4,000  feet,  and  the  Hawaiian  duck 
(Anas  wyvilliana),  also  a  peculiar  species.  According  to  .Mr.  II.  W. 
Henshaw  this  duck  was  common  about  Hilo  four  years  ago,  but  in 
1898  none  were  left  anywhere  in  this  region.  As  in  Jamaica,  the 
depredations  of  rats  in  the  cane  fields  diminished  with  the  increase  of 
the  mongoose,  but  the  latter  soon  became  so  abundant  that  measures 
beca me  necessary  to  keep  it  under  control.  In  1892  a  law  was  passed 
forbidding  the  introduction,  breeding,  or  keeping  of  the  mongoose  in 
the  islands,  and  the  sum  of  81,000  was  appropriated  for  the  payment 
of  bounties  on  animals  killed  on  the  island  of  Oahu.  These  rewards, 
not  to  exceed  25  cents  per  head,  were  to  be  paid  by  the  Minister  of 
the  Interior,  but  apparently  no  applications  were  made  for  them,  the 
animals  being  regarded  as  a  necessary  evil  in  the  sugar-cane  districts. 

'See  Duerden.  Journ.  Inst.  Jamaica,  II,  1896,  pp.  273-275. 

-Proc.  Zool.  Soc,  London,  1882,  p.  714. 

3  Elliott,  Field  Columbian  Mus.,  Zool.  Ser..  I,  1896,  p.  82. 


96  YEARBOOK    OF    THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    AGRICULTURE. 

Attempts  at  introduction  in  other  countries  have  not  succeeded 
so  well.  The  mongoose  was  introduced  into  the  Fiji  Islands,  prob- 
ably about  1870,  but  apparently  has  not  increased  to  the  extent  to 
which  it  has  in  Hawaii.  Early  in  the  eighties  several  experiments 
were  made  in  Australia,  which  resulted  in  failure.  More  than  a 
hundred  individuals  were  liberated  near  the  Murray  River,  and 
others  in  New  South  Wales.  An  experiment  was  also  made  in  New 
Zealand,  but  apparently  without  much  success.1  In  February,  1892, 
it  was  erroneously  reported  that  the  Department  of  Agriculture  was 
about  to  introduce  the  mongoose  into  the  United  States  for  the  pur- 
pose of  destroying  gophers  in  the  West.  Although  founded  on  a 
mistake,  and  speedily  corrected,  the  rumor  was  so  well  heralded  by 
the  press  that  it  attracted  widespread  attention.  Persons  who  were 
familiar  with  the  situation  in  Jamaica  and  Hawaii  protested  vigor- 
ously against  the  supposed  experiment.  Others,  ignorant  of  the 
animal's  past  record  and  anxious  to  try  some  new  method  of  extermi- 
nating gophers,  prepared  to  obtain  specimens  from  Honolulu.  By 
the  most  strenuous  efforts  these  importations  were  prevented,  and 
as  yet  the  mongoose  is  not  known  to  have  gained  a  foothold  on  this 
continent. 

FERRETS,    STOATS,    AND    WEASELS. 

In  the  attempt  to  check  the  rabbit  pest  in  Xew  Zealand,  recourse 
has  been  had  to  the  importation  of  natural  enemies,  such  as  ferrets, 
stoats  (Putorius  ermineus),  and  weasels  (P.  nivalis).  In  the  Waira- 
rapa  district  some  GOO  ferrets,  300  stoats  and  weasels,  and  300  cats 
had  been  turned  out  previous  to  1887.  Between  January,  1887, 
and  June,  1888,  contracts  were  made  by  the  Government  for  nearly 
22,000  ferrets,  and  several  thousand  had  previously  been  liberated  on 
Crown  and  private  lands.  Large  numbers  of  stoats  and  weasels  have 
also  been  liberated  during  the  last  fifteen  years.  This  host  of  preda- 
tory animals  speedily  brought  about  a  decrease  in  the  number  of 
rabbits,  but  its  work  wras  not  confined  to  rabbits,  and  soon  game  birds 
and  other  species  were  found  to  be  diminishing.  The  stoat  and  the 
weasel  are  much  more  bloodthirsty  than  the  ferret,  and  the  widespread 
destruction  is  attributed  to  them  rather  than  to  the  latter  animal. 
Now  that  some  of  the  native  birds  are  threatened  with  extermination, 
it  lias  been  suggested  to  set  aside  an  island  along  the  New  Zealand 
coast  where  the  more  interesting  indigenous  species  can  be  kept  safe 
from  their  enemies  and  saved  from  complete  extinction. 

FLYING   FOXES,   OR   FRUIT   BATS. 

On  August  4,  1893,  the  steamer  Monowai  from  Australia  arrived  at 
San  Francisco,  having  on  board  a  fruit-eating  bat,  or  flying  fox.  The 
animal  had  taken   refuge  on  1  lie  steamer  off  the  coast  of  Australia, 

1  Final  Rept.  Royal  Comiu.  Inquiry  Exterm.  Rabbits  Australasia,  1890,  p.  9. 


DANGEB  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS  AND  BIRDS.         97 


and  was  captured  and  kept  as  a  pel  by  one  of  the  passengers. 
It  was  promptly  killed  by  the  quarantine  officer  at  San  Francisco, 
and  four  more,  which  arrived  in  captivity  two  months  Later  from 
China,  on  the  steamer  Eio  dt  Jam  iro,  met  the  same  fate  Attention 
was  called  to  the  danger  of  the  new  pest,  and  one  of  the  regulations 
adopted  by  the  State  hoard  of  horticulture  in  bhe  following  year  pro- 
hibited the  importation  of  these  animals  into  California. 

Flying  foxes  belong  to  the  genus  Pti  ropus  (fig.  l  >,  one  of  the  best- 
known  groups  of  fruit-eating  bats.  The  genus  includes  some  fifty 
species  which  are  found  in  the  tropics  of  the  Old  World,  from  Mada- 
gascar and  the  Comoro  Islands  east  to  Australia,  and  the  Samoan 
islands,  and  north  to  India,  Malay  Archipelago,  and  southern  Japan. 
Five  species  occur  in  Australia,  two  of  them  as  far  south  as  New  South 
Wales  (hit,  35°  S.),  but  none  are 
found  in  Xew  Zealand  or  in  the  Ha- 
waiian Islands.  The  largest  species 
is  the  Kalong  or  Malay  fruit  bat 
(Pteropus  edulis),  which  measures 
more  than  5  feet  across  the  tips  of 
the  wings. 

In  Australia  these  bats  are  de- 
scribed as  living-  in  immense  commu- 
nities or  "camps"'  in  the  most  inac- 
cessible parts  of  the  dense  scrub  of 
gullies  and  swamps.  Here  they  may 
be  seen  by  thousands,  frequently 
crowded  so  thickly  on  the  trees  that 
large  branches  are  broken  by  their 
weight.  They  fly  considerable  dis- 
tances in  search  of  food,  sallying 
forth  in  Hocks  about  sunset  and  re- 
turning to  their  camps  before  dawn. 
In  New  South  Wales,  and  more  espe- 
cially in  Queensland,  flying  foxes  are  one  of  the  worst  pests  of  the  fruit 
grower,  and  are  described  as  a  plague  which  threatens  the  fruit-growing 
industry  in  a  large  part  of  Australia.  They  are  particularly  injurious 
to  tigs,  bananas,  peaches,  and  other  soft  fruit,  and  it  is  est  [mated  that 
the  damage  done  to  orchards  in  the  coast  district  of  New  South  Wales 
amounts  to  many  thousands  of  pounds  annually.  Various  expedients 
have  been  suggested  to  protect  orchards  from  their  depredations. 
Rags  dipped  in  melted  sulphur  and  hung  among  the  branches,  netting 
placed  over  the  trees,  and  wires  suspended  around  the  lives,  and  even 
stretched  close  together  from  poles  and  covering  the  whole  orchard 
Have  been  tried,  but  apparently  without  much  success.  The  most  prac- 
tical method  is  to  destroy  the  bats  in  their  camps.  A  few  years  ago  the 
Minister  for  Mines  and  Agriculture  for  New  South  Wales  supplied 


from    Proceedings 
London.  1874). 


Zoological 


98  YEARBOOK    OF    THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    AGRICULTURE. 

ammunition  for  this  purpose  and,  after  considerable  expenditure  of 
powder  and  slid  .  about  100,000  foxes  were  destroyed  at  a  cost  of  about 
30  cents  apiece.  Wholesale  destruction  with  dynamite  was  suggested 
and  experiments  with  high  explosives  were  made  by  the  department 
of  agriculture.  Chargesof  roburite  (1  to  4  pounds)  and  gun  cotton  (2£ 
pounds),  connected  with  wires  so  that  they  could  be  fired  by  an  electric 
current,  were  placed  in  the  branches  of  trees  where  the  bats  were 
accustomed  in  roost.  The  bats  carefully  avoided  the  trees  in  which 
explosives  were  hung,  and  when  the  charges  were  fired  none  were 
killed,  even  among  those  roosting  in  neighboring  trees.1 

Since  nearly  all  the  species  of  flying  foxes  are  natives  of  the  Trop- 
ics, it  is  hardly  likely  that  they  could  gain  a  foothold  in  the  United 
States,  exeepl  in  the  South,  but  there  is  a  serious  danger  of  their 
introduction  into  the  Hawaiian  Islands  by  means  of  vessels  plying 
between  Honoluluand  the  Orient,  the  South  Sea  Islands,  and  Australia. 

THE    ENGLISH   SPARROW. 

The  house  sparrow,  better  known  in  America  as  the  English  spar- 
row (Passi  r  domesticus),  is  a  common  bird  of  north  central  Eurasia. 
11  is  said  to  range  as  far  north  as  latitude  07°  in  Europe  and  to  lati- 
tude 61  in  Asia.  The  damage  which  it  does  in  destroying  fruit  and 
-rain,  in  disfiguring  buildings  in  cities  and  towns,  and  in  driving 
away  other  birds,  makes  it  one  of  the  worst  of  feathered  pests.  The 
rapidity  with  which  it  increases  in  a  new  locality  is  scarcely  more 
remarkable  than  the  persistency  and  care  which  have  been  displayed 
in  introducing  it  into  foreign  lands,  in  spite  of  the  warnings  of  per- 
sons familiar  with  its  habits.  It  has  gained  a  foothold  on  all  of  the 
continents,  and  has  been  transported  to  some  of  the  most  distant 
islands  in  the  Indian  and  Pacific  oceans.  In  North  America  it  has 
not  increase*  1  very  rapidly  north  of  the  Transition  zone  nor  in  the  Lower 
Austral,  bin  wherever  it  has  become  at  all  abundant  efforts  to  exter- 
minate it  have  been  practically  futile. 

The  English  sparrow  was  first  introduced  into  the  United  states 
by  a  gentleman  of  Brooklyn,  N.  V.,  who  broughl  over  eight  pairs 
from  Europe  in  the  fall  of  L850  and  liberated  them  in  the  fol- 
lowing spring.  These  birds  did  not  thrive,  and  in  L852  a  second 
importation  was  made.  In  1854  and  1858  the  sparrow  was  introduced 
at  Portland,  Me.,  and  in  the  latter  year  at-  lVacedale,  K.  I.,  and  a  few 
birds  escaped  a1  Boston,  Mass.  During  the  next  decade  it  was  im- 
ported direct  from  Europe  1<»  eight  other  cities,  and  in  one  case  1,000 
birds  were  sent  io  Philadelphia  in  a  single  lot;  birds  were  also  dis- 
tributed from  the  colonies  a  1  ready  start ed  in  this  country.  by  L870 
it  had  become  established  as  far  south  as  Columbia,  S.  (1,  Louisville, 
Ky..  and  Galveston,  Tex.;  as  far  west  as  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  Daven- 
port, Iowa,  and   as   far   north   as   Montreal,  Canada,   thus  gaining  a 

lAgr.  Gazette,  New  South  Wales.  I,  1890,  p.  105. 


DANGER  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS  AND  BIRDS.        99 


foothold  in  twenty  States,  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  two  provinces 
in  Canada. 

Between  L870  and  1880  ii  was  estimated  thai  its  range  had  been 
extended  by  nearly  16,000  square  miles,  and  isolated  colonies  were 
established  at  San  Francisco  (1871-72)  and  Sail  Lake  City,  Utah 
(is;:;).  During  the  nexl  five  years  ii  spread  over  more  than  500,000 
square  miles,  and  in  1886  had  become  established  in  thirty-five  States 
and  five  Territories,  occupying  practically  all  of  the  region  easl  of 
the  Mississippi  River  (except  portions  of  Florida,  Alabama,  and  Mis- 
sissippi), as  well  as  parts  of  eighl  States  in  the  West.  Its  range  was 
estimated  to  cover  1,033,000  square  miles,  including  its. into  square 
miles  in  Canada. 


Pig.  2.— Map  showing  spread  of  English  sparrow  in  the  United  States:  The  entire  shaded  area 
represents  approximately  the  present  distribution  of  the  sparrow:  triangles  indicate  colonies 
in  1860:  black  spots,  colonies  in  1870;  circles,  isolated  colonies  in  ;s-.ii:  dotted  area,  range  in 
1886:  lined  area,  extension  of  range  up  to  end  of  1898. 

At  the  present  time  (1808)  only  three  States  (Montana,  Nevada,  and 
Wyoming)  and  three  Territories  (Alaska.  Arizona,  and  New  Mexico) 
are  apparently  free  from  the  sparrow.  Its  range  ex1  ends  west  ward  1 1 1 
the  Great  Plains  and  in  Colorado  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  also 
occupies  considerable  areas  in  Utah  and  central  California.     (Sec  fig  2.  i 

The  true  character  of  the  bird  is  now  so  well  known  that  it  is 
unnecessary  to  dwell  on  its  injuries  to  fruit  and  grain,  the  nuisance 
it  has  become  in  large  cities,  and  the  extent  to  which  it  has  replaced 
native  birds.  The  ill-directed  care  and  energy  expended  on  introduc- 
ing and  fostering  it  thirty  years  ago  are  largely  responsible  for  the 
marvelous  rapidity  of  its  distribution.  Now,  when  too  late,  efforts  at 
extermination  have  been  begun,  and  four  States  (Illinois,  Michigan, 
<  >hio,  and  Utah)  have  offered  bounties  for  its  destruction,  the  expend- 
itures in  Illinois  (1891-1895)  and  Michigan  (1887-1895)  amounting 
to  about  1117,500. 


10<>         YEARBOOK    OF    THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    AGRICULTURE. 

Besidesthe  United  States,  New  Zealand  and  Australia  have  suffered 
considerably  from  the  English  sparrow,  and  in  some  of  the  colonies  of 
Australia  it  is  considered  second  only  to  the  rabbit  as  a  pest.  It  seems 
to  have  been  introduced  on  the  North  Island  of  New  Zealand  in  18G6, 
by  the  Wanganui  Acclimatization  Society.1  By  L870  it  began  to  be 
numerous,  and  twelve  years  later  threatened  to  spread  over  the  whole 
island,  becoming  established  in  the  most  inaccessible  regions,  in  spite 
of  its  usual  partiality  for  cities  and  towns.  In  Victoria  the  sparrow 
was  introduced  about  1865,  and  probably  appeared  soon  after  in 
Queensland,  New  South  Wales,  South  Australia,  and  Tasmania,  but 
data  are  lacking  as  tothedateof  itsfirsl  appearance  in  these  colonies. 
It  has  increased  so  rapidly  that,  in  order  to  hold  it  in  check,  "Sparrow- 
destruction"  bills  have  been  passed  in  several  of  the  colonies  during 
the  last  ten  years. 

Thus  far  1  he  sparrow  has  not  gained  a  foothold  in  Western  Australia, 
and  radical  measures  have  been  adopted  to  prevent  its  introduction, 
lis  importal  ion  was  prohibited  by  the  "  Destructive  birds  and  animals 
act,"  passed  in  L893,  and  when  a  few  birds  were  discovered  in  Perth  in 
January.  L898,  prompt  measures  for  their  extermination  were  taken 
by  the  bureau  of  agriculture.  All  that  could  be  found  were  shot,  and 
attention  was  called  to  the  necessity  of  stamping  out  the  pest  before 
it  spread  beyond  control. 

The  English  sparrow  has  also  found  its  way  into  many  otherdistant 
corners  of  the  earth.  It  is  gaining  a  foothold  in  Argentina,  and  has 
been  carried  to  remote  islands.  In  the  Indian  Ocean  it  is  present  on 
Mauritius,  about  400  miles  east  of  Madagascar,  and  on  the  Comoro 
Islands,  off  the  southeast  coast  of  Africa  and  350  miles  northwest  of 
Madagascar.  It  was  first  reported  from  Grand  Comoro  in  1879.  In 
the  PacificOcean  it  has  been  introduced  on  the  Chatham  Islands,  some 
500  miles  east  of  New  Zealand,2  probably  on  New  Caledonia,  and  on 
the  Hawaiian  Islands.  In  the  latter  group  it  is  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  it  was  introduced  by  way  of  San  Francisco  in  the  early 
seventies,  since  it  was  reported  to  be  numerous  at  Honolulu  in  L879. 
In  the  Atlantic  Ocean  it  is  present  on  Bermuda,  the  Bahamas,  and 
Cuba.  It  was  sent  to  Bermuda  from  New  York  about  L874,  and  two 
years  later  was  given  the  same  protection  accorded  to  other  birds, 
its  destruction  being  punished  by  a  line  of  .'.  to  20  shillings.  Ten 
years  after  its  introduction  it  had  increased  so  enormously  that  a 
bounty  was  offered  for  its  destruction,  and  between  L884  and  188G 
about  £530(82,650)  were  expended,  without  causing  any  appreciable 
decrease  in  its  numbers,  notwithstanding  the  short  time  the  bird  had 
been  present  and  the  fact  that  the  islands  have  an  area  of  less  than 
20  square  miles.      It  is  said  to  have  been  imported  into  Cuba,  and  in 

1  Rept.  New  Zealand  Dept.  Agriculture,  L897, 1)iv.  Biology,  p.  8. 
[bis,  1893,  p.  543. 


DANGER  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS  AND  BIRDS.       101 

1877  was  reported  to  have  been  introduced  on  New  Providence,  Baha- 
mas, "within  the  last  few  years."  It  has  not,  however,  increased 
rapidly  on  either  island,  for  in  ls'.H  it  was  reported  as  still  not 
abundant,  and  apparently  had  not  extended  its  range  to  any  of  the 
neighboring  islands. 

THE   STARLING. 

The  starling  (Sfiirmis  vulgaris,  fig.  .'3)  of  Europe  and  western  Asia 
is  one  of  the  best  known  birds  of  the  Old  World,  and  during  late 
years  has  been  increasing  in  numbers  in  the  British  Isles.  It  is  some- 
times accused  of  stealing  fruit  and  destroying  nests  and  eggs  of  ol  her 
birds,  but  in  its  native  home  it  seems  to  be  beneficial  rather  than 
otherwise.     Comparatively  little  accurate  information  concerning  its 

Mg&M  L^iL- 


Fig.  3.— Starling  (Sturnus  vulgaris). 

food  habits  is  available,  except  the  results  of  an  examination  of  175 
stomachs  recently  made  in  Scotland  by  Mr.  John  Gilmour.1  Accord- 
ing to  this  examination  the  food  consists  of  75  per  cent  insects,  20 
per  cent  grain  (mainly  waste  grain),  and  5  per  cent  miscellaneous 
substances.  Some  useful  insects  were  eaten,  but  the  greater  proportion 
were  classed  as  injurious.  The  charge  of  dest  roving  eggs  of  larks,  and 
occasionally  young  nestlings,  was  not  substantiated,  as  no  eggshells 
were  found  in  these  stomachs.  Mr.  Gilmour  calls  attention  to  the 
rapid  increase  of  starlings  in  Fifeshire,  thousands  now  existing  where 
fifty  or  sixty  years  ago  they  were  considered  rare,  and  mentions  the 
serious  damage  sometimes  done  to  shrubs  and  young  plantations  when 
occupied  as  roosting  places,  but  concludes  that  on  the  whole  the  bird 
is  beneficial  and  worthy  of  protection. 

1  Trans.  Highland  and  Agr.  Soc,  Scotland,  189(3. 
19G07 2 


102         YEARBOOK    (>F     THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    AGRICULTURE. 

Several  attempts  have  been  made  to  introduce  this  species  into  the 
United  States,  bul  asyel  it  lias  hardly  obtained  a  foothold.  One  of  the 
firsl  importations  was  made  by  the  Acclimatization  Society  of  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio,  in  the  winter  of  L872-73.  About  1877  a  number  of  star- 
lings were  liberated  in  Central  Park,  New  York,  by  the  American 
Acclimatization  Society,  and  several  similar  experiments  have  .since 
been  made,  bill  only  the  last  seems  to  have  met  with  success.  About 
60  birds  were  released  in  L890.  Some  of  them  have  bred  for  several 
years,  and.  leaving  the  park,  have  established  themselves  in  favorable 
places  in  the  neighborhood.  In  L893  and  L894  flocks  of  as  many  as  50 
individuals  were  reported  to  have  been  seen  in  the  suburbs  about  the 
northern  end  of  the  city,  and  late  in  1898  a  flock  of  about  30  took 
up  residence  at  Sing  Sing.  During  the  last  two  or  three  years  a  few 
have  been  seen  on  Long  Island,  about  Brooklyn.  Thirty-five  pairs 
were  liberated  at  Portland,  Oregon,  in  1880  and  1892,  where  they  are 
said  to  have  done  remarkably  well,  and  as  recently  as  June,  1898, 
a  few  were  seen  about  the  suburbs.  In  the  autumn  of  1897  it 
was  repotted  that  starlings  were  to  be  imported  for  the  city  park 
at  Allegheny,  Pa.,  but  as  yet  only  a  dozen  or  fifteen  seem  to  have 
been  introduced,  and  these  have  been  carefully  kept  in  captivity  for 
breeding,  with  the  intention  of  ultimately  stocking  the  park. 

.Much  has  been  said  concerning  the  advantages  of  introducing  the 
starling  into  this  country,  but  in  spite  of  the  many  arguments  brought 
forward,  the  bird's  character  is  not  above  suspicion,  and  its  useful- 
ness is  si  ill  open  to  question.  The  fact  seems  to  have  been  overlooked 
thai  in  other  countries  the  starling  has  signally  failed  to  fulfill  the 
expectations  concerning  its  usefulness.  Certainly  the  experience  of 
Australia  and  New  Zealand  offers  little  encouragement.  It  was  intro- 
duced in  New  Zealand  in  1807,  and  as  early  as  1870  was  reported  as 
iw  becoming  very  numerous."  It  seems  to  have  increased  very  rapidly, 
and  in  spite  of  its  natural  preference  for  insects,  in  its  new  home  it  has 
adopted  a  fruit  diet  to  such  an  extent  as  to  become  a  great  pest.1  In 
South  Australia  it  was  reported  to  be  common  in  certain  localities  in 
L894,  and  measures  for  its  extermination  were  considered.  In  Victo- 
ria, on  the  other  hand,  steps  were  taken  in  1895  to  promote  its  increase 
in  fruit  and  grain  growing  districts,  and  this  fact  was  used  as  an 
argument  in  its  favor  by  persons  who  were  endeavoring  to  introduce 
it  into  some  of  the  other  colonies.  Western  Australia  has  taken  a 
firm  stand  on  the  question,  and  Mr.  R.  Helms,  biologist  of  the  bureau 
of  agriculture  of  thai  colony,  who  opposed  the  proposed  importation, 
gives  his  reasons  as  follows: 

Had  I  been  asked  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago  what  I  had  to  say,  I  would  prob- 
ablj  have  recommended  their  introduction.     But  not  so  now.     My  experience  has 


1  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  nearly  twenty  years  ago  an  eminent  English 
ornithologist  predicted  that  in  foreign  countries  the  starling  would  undoubtedly 
aid  in  destroying  native  birds.  (Newton  in  YarrelPs  British  Birds.  4th  ed.,  II, 
L876-188I3.) 


DANGER  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS  AND  BIRDS.       103 


taught  me  better.  The  birds  were  introduced  more  than  fifteen  years  ago  into 
New  Zealand,  and  now,  like  the  thrushes,  they  have  become  a  pest  to  fruit 
growers.  They  have  changed  their  habit  from  being  principally  insectivorous 
to  having  become  omnivorous.' 

After  due  deliberation,  the  Government  issued  a  proclamation  on 
January  22,  1896,  declaring  the  starling  a  destructive  bird  and  abso- 
lutely prohibiting  its  importation  into  Western  Australia.  Stillmore 
recently  it  has  been  condemned  in  Tasmania,  where  it   is  charged 

with  committing  depredations  on  small   fruits,  cherries,  and   wheat 


SN5k  %    v/ 


i&~~-l 


r/  /v 


Fig.  4.— Mina 


Its  further  distribution  has  been  discouraged,  and  when  the  question 
of  introducing  several  species  of  birds  was  under  discussion  at  an 
agricultural  conference  at  Scottsdale  on  December  6,  L897,  the  starling 
was  promptly  rejected. a 

THE  MIX  A. 

The  mina,  or  mynah  (AcridotJu  n  s  tristis,  fig.  4),  is  common  through- 
out most  of  India,  except  Kashmir  and  Tenasserim.     In  its  habits  it 

1  Producers'  Gazette,  Western  Australia.  V.  January.  1898,  p.  29. 

'Agr.  Gazette,  Tasmania,  V,  November.  1897.  p.  66;  January,  1*98,  p.  103. 


104    YEARBOOK  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


is  somewhat  like  our  native  grackles  or  crow  blackbirds,  but  seems 
to  resemble  the  sparrow  in  its  familiarity  and  partiality  for  human 
habitations.     It  was  introduced  more  than  thirty-five  years  ago  into 

Mauritius  to  destroy 
grasshoppers,  and  is 
said  to  have  become 
perfectly  naturalized 
there.1  It  has  also 
been  introduced  into 
the  Andaman  Islands 
(some  time  prior  to 
1873),  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  New  Zea- 
land, and  possibly 
Australia. 

It  is  said  to  have 
reached  the  Hawai- 
ian Islands  by  way  of 
China.  Dr.  Finsch, 
an  eminent  ornitholo- 
gist, who  visited  Honolulu  in  1879,  found  it  very  abundant,  and  de- 
scribes its  habits  as  follows  : 

The  rnainas  are  a  great  nuisance  to  the  inhabitants,  as  they  drive  away  the 
pigeons  and  fowls,  and  are  said  to  destroy  the  nests  and  eggs  of  the  domestic 
birds.  That  they  do  drive  out  the 
pigeons  from  their  houses,  I  observed 
many  times  myself.  *  *  *  In  Mr. 
Barning's  garden,  where  the  finest 
trees,  chiefly  palm,  abound,  hundreds 
and  thousands  come  to  roost,  and 
their  inharmonious  concert  lasts  from 
6  in  the  evening  for  an  hour  or  more. 
The  same  is  the  case  at  daybreak,  a 
little  after  5  o'clock. 


Fig.  5.— Kohlmeise  (Pa 


THE    KOHLMEISE, 


UtEAT  TITMOUSE. 


"  Kohlmeise  "  is  I  lie  <  rerman 
name  of  the  greal  I  it  mouse  of 
Europe  (Parus  major),  and  this 
designation  is  used  to  some  ex- 
tent in  the  United  States.  The 
kohlmeise  (fig.  .V)  is  common  over 
the  whole  of  Europe  as  far  uorth 
as  the  Arctic  Circle  and  also  in  Siberia.  It  is  a  handsome  species, 
aboul  the  size  of  the  common  eastern  chickadee  (  Parus  afficap/lhts, 
fig.  6),  bul  may  be  readily  distinguished  from  any  American  titmouse 
by  i  he  dull  yellow  on  t  he  sides  of  the  body  and  the  broad  black  stripe 


Fig.  6.— Chickadee  I  Parus  atricapillus). 


Jerdon.  Birds  of  India,  11,  1863,  i>.  326. 


Ibis,  1880,  pp.  77.  78. 


DANGER  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS  AND  BIRDS.       105 

extending  down  the  center  of  its  breast  (see  fig.  5).  Like  other 
species  of  the  genus,  it  is  mainly  insectivorous,  but  in  winter  is  said 
to  eat  nuts  and  hard  seeds.  The  kohlmeise  has  recently  attracted 
attention  on  account  of  its  alleged  value  as  a  destroyer  of  the  codling 
moth  {Carpocapsa  pomonella),  particularly  in  Germany,  where  it  is 
reported  to  protect  apple  trees  in  large  measure  from  the  attacks  of 
this  destructive  insect.  But  although  several  German  authors  regard 
it  as  a  most  useful  species,  there  seems  to  be  no  satisfactory  evidence 
that  it  is  partial  to  the  codling  moth,  or  in  fact  that  it  ever  feeds  on 
the  moth  to  any  great  extent.  In  Great  Britain  where  the  kohlmeise 
is  also  a  resident  and  generally  distributed,  its  presence  has  not  been 
sufficient  to  exterminate  the  codling  moth  or  even  to  hold  this  pest  in 
check.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  said  to  attack  small  and  weakly  birds, 
splitting  open  their  skulls  with  its  beak  to  get  at  the  brains,  and  doing 
more  or  less  damage  to  fruit,  particularly  pears.  One  English  observer 
reported  that  all  the  pears  in  his  garden  had  to  be  inclosed  in  muslin 
bags  to  protect  them  from  the  birds,  which  would  otherwise  eat  a  con- 
siderable partof  the  fruit  before  it  was  ripe.  Another  reported  that  I  In- 
great  titmouse  spoiled  most  of  a  limited  crop  of  apples,  and  then  began 
on  the  pears,  boring  a  small  hole  near  the  stem,  and  passing  from  one 
pear  to  another  until  every  one  of  forty  or  fifty  trees  had  been  dam- 
aged. It  also  attacked  figs,  scooping  them  out  before  they  were  ripe. 
In  the  autumn  of  1897  an  article  appeared  in  a  paper  in  Idaho  set- 
ting forth  the  great  value  of  the  bird  to  the  fruit  grower,  and  stronglv 
advocating  its  importation  into  this  country.  The  article  attracted 
the  attention  of  horticulturists  throughout  the  Northwest,  and  gave 
rise  to  considerable  discussion  concerning  the  merits  of  the  bird  and 
the  desirability  of  its  introduction.  While  the  kohlmeise  might  not 
develop  its  fruit-eating  propensities  in  America,  it  should  not  be 
introduced  until  more  definite  information  is  available  concerning  its 
habits  and  until  it  has  been  shown  beyond  question  that  it  will  do  no 
serious  harm.  Moreover,  since  there  are  already  several  titmice  of 
the  same  genus  in  the  United  States,  it  seems  entirely  unnecessary 
to  add  another  to  the  list,  for  it  is  hardly  probable  that  the  European 
bird  would  confine  itself  to  the  codling  moth  or.be  of  more  value  to 
the  horticulturist  than  the  native  species.  It  may  be  added  that  recenl 
investigations  seem  to  show  that  the  common  eastern  chickadee  feeds 
to  some  extent  on  the  codling  moth,  as  a  few  larva1,  believed  to  be 
those  of  this  insect,  have  been  found  in  chickadee  stomachs  col- 
lected in  New  Hampshire  during  February  and  March.1  It  may  lie 
of  interest  also  to  recall  the  fact  that  the  kohlmeise  was  actually 
introduced  in  1874  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  but  the  experiment  failed,  as 
neither  this  nor  any  of  the  other  exotic  species  imported  at  the  same 
time  became  naturalized. 

'Weed,  Bui.  54,  N.  H.  Coll.  Agr.  Expt.  Station,  1898,  pp.  87,  94. 
12  A98 8* 


106         YEARBOOK    OF    THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    AGRICULTURE. 
THE   SKYLARK,   GREEN    LINNET,   AND   BLACK   THRUSH. 

The  skylark  (Alauda  arvensis),  the  green  linnet  (Ligurinus  chloris), 
and  black  thrush,  or  black  bird  (Turdus  merula),  are  all  natives  of 
Europe.  They  arc  chiefly  of  interest  in  this  connection,  because  in 
their  native  home  they  are  almost  universally  considered  beneficial, 
but  in  New  Zealand  they  have  developed  traits  which  render  them 
far  from  desirable  additions  to  the  fauna  of  that  island.  They  were 
introduced  into  New  Zealand  in  1807;  in  1870  they  had  begun  to  breed 
in  a  wild  state  in  the  province  of  Auckland  on  the  North  Island,  and 
t  he  green  linnet  was  reported  as  already  becoming  common.1  At  the 
present  time  they  arc  common  all  over  the  colony  and  troublesome  in 
certain  districts.  The  skylark  confines  its  injuries  mainly  to  turnips, 
eating  the  seed  soon  after  it  is  planted,  and  thus  causing  no  small 
damage  to  the  future  crop.  The  green  linnet  is  similarly  injurious  to 
-rain,  while  the  black  thrush  is  accused  of  taking  strawberries,  cur- 
ran  Is,  raspberries,  and  other  small  fruits.  As  a  fruit  destroyer  the 
black  thrush  is  said  to  be  worse  than  the  English  sparrow,  and  the  pro- 
posal to  introduce  it  into  Western  Australia  elicited  a  strenuous  protest. 

The  skylark  has  been  introduced  several  times  into  the  United 
States,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  and  recently  all  three 
bi  rds  have  been  liberated  in  Oregon,  but  as  yet  they  have  not  increased 
to  any  extent.  Both  the  skylark  and  the  black  thrush  are  noted 
singers,  but  the  charms  of  their  song  hardly  compensate  for  damage 
to  crops. 

NEED   OF   LEGISLATION. 

The  examples  already  cited  show  the  danger  of  introducing  exotic 
species  on  large  islands,  particularly  on  those  far  distant  from  con- 
tinents, where  the  fauna  is  necessarily  limited  and  predatory  species 
practically  absent.  In  such  places  introduced  species  are  almost 
sure  to  increase  very  rapidly.  The  experience  of  New  Zealand  indi- 
cates the  necessity  of  exercising  unusual  care  in  introducing  birds 
and  mammals  into  the  islands  recently  acquired  by  the  United  States. 
Much  remains  to  be  learned  about  the  fauna  of  these  new  possessions. 
Puerto  Rico  is  less  known  than  any  of  the  larger  islands  of  the  West 
Indies,  bnl  it  probably  has  no  indigenous  mammals  except  bats. 
About  150  species  of  birds  have  been  recorded  from  the  island,2 
of  which  20  are  not  found  elsewhere.  The  fauna  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  is  still  more  limited;  indigenous  mammals,  except  one  bat 
(  Lasiv/rus),  are  entirely  wanting,  but  many  of  the  birds  are  of  great 
interest.  Although  no  complete  list  of  them  has  yet  been  published, 
about   LOO  species  are  known  to  occur  on  the  islands.     The  fauna  of 

1  The  pjreen  linnet  has  found  its  \v;iy  t<>  the  Kennadee  Islands.  (500  miles  to  the 
northeast,  and  all  three  species  are  said  to  be  now  present  on  the  Chatham 
Islands,  nearly  500  miles  east  of  the  South  Island  of  New  Zealand. 

•Gundlach.  J.  F.  <).,  XXVI,  1878,  p.  1(53. 


DANGEB  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS  AND  BIRDS.       107 

the  Philippines  is  much   richer.     The  mammals  are  comparatively 

unknown,  and  until  recently  were  supposed  to  be  poorly  represented, 
but  at  present  the  list  includes  some  50  species,  of  which  about  half 
are  bats.  The  birds  have  received  much  more  attention,  and  nearly 
600  species  have  been  recorded  from  the  archipelago, '  286  occurring 
on  Luzon  alone 

All  of  the  islands  have  probably  suffered  more  or  less  from  the 
introduction  of  noxious  species,  especially  rats  and  mice.  In  Hawaii 
rats  have  done  so  much  damage  thai  t  he  sugar  planters  have  imported 
the  mongoose  to  destroy  them,  and  this  animal  is  now  becoming  a 
pest.  The  mina  of  India  is  also  present  in  considerable  numbers,  and 
the  house  finch  (Carpodacus  mexicanus  frontalis)  has  been  intro- 
duced, notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it  is  usually  considered  a  great 
pest  by  fruit  growers  in  California. 

During  the  last  fifty  years  a  number  of  acclimatization  societies 
have  been  organized  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  animals  and  plants 
from  foreign  countries.  Private  individuals,  too,  have  devoted  both 
time  and  money  to  importing  birds  or  mammals  which  they  consider 
necessary  or  desirable  additions  to  the  native  fauna.  Four  or  five 
societies  exist  in  New  Zealand,  and  several  have  been  formed  in  the 
United  States.  During  the  years  1872-1874  the  Acclimatization  Soci- 
ety of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  expended  about  19,000  in  the  purchase  and 
importation  of  European  birds,  and  introduced  some  4,000,  belonging 
to  about  20  species,  at  an  average  cost  of  about  $4.50  a  pair.  These 
included  several  birds  of  doubtful  value,  such  as  the  starling,  skylark, 
and  great  titmouse  or  kohlmeise.2    This  experiment  proved  a  failure. 

In  1888  the  Society  for  the  Introduction  of  European  Song  Birds  was 
organized  at  Portland,  Oregon,  and  imported  two  lots  of  birds  in  1889 
and  1892,  at  a  cost  of  about  82,000.  Among  the  number  were  50  pairs 
of  skylarks,  35  pairs  of  black  thrushes,  35  pairs  of  starlings,  15  pairs 
of  green  linnets,  and  a  number  of  others,  representing  in  all  some  20 
species.  Recently  the  introduction  of  the  kohlmeise  into  the  North- 
west has  been  seriously  considered,  and  the  spasmodic  attempts  to 
acclimatize  the  skylark  and  starling  have  been  renewed. 

Whatever  may  be  the  difference  of  opinion  concerning  the  desira- 
bility of  introducing  exotic  species,  it  will  be  generally  admitted  that 
some  restriction  should  be  placed  on  the  importation  of  birds  and 
mammals  which  may  become  injurious.  Since  it  has  been  found 
necessary  to  restrict  immigration  and  to  have  laws  preventing  the 
introduction  of  diseases  dangerous  to  man  or  domesticated  animals, 
is  it  not  also  important  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  any  species 

1  This  number  includes  the  species  found  on  Palawan.  Worcester  and  Bourns 
class  Palawan  with  Borneo  on  zoological  grounds,  giving  for  the  Philippines  proper 
526  species;  of  these,  323  are  confined  to  the  group.  (Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Museum, 
XX,  1898,  pp.  564,  575.) 

•  Journ.  Cincinnati  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  IV,  1881,  p.  342. 


108         YEARBOOK    OF    THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    AGRICULTURE. 

which  may  cause  incalculable  harm?  Experience  with  the  English 
sparrow,  the  work  of  rabbits  in  Australia  and  of  the  mongoose  in 
Jamaica,  all  these  have  abundantly  shown  the  necessity  of  preventing 
the  repetition  of  similar  costly  blunders  in  the  future. 

Twelve  years  ago  Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam,  Chief  of  the  Biological 
Survey,  urged  the  necessity  of  restricting  the  importation  of  exotic 
species,  as  follows: ' 

It  seems  desirable  that  a  law  be  enacted  conferring  upon  the  Commissioner 
[Secretary]  of  Agriculture  the  power  of  granting  or  withholding  permits  for  the 
importation  of  birds  and  mammals,  except  in  the  case  of  domesticated  species, 
certain  song  and  cage  birds  (to  be  specifically  enumerated),  and  species  intended 
for  exhibition  in  zoological  gardens,  menageries,  and  museums,  which  may  be 
brought  in  without  special  permits.  The  question  of  the  desirability  of  importing 
species  of  known  beneficial  qualities  in  other  lands  is  one  which  sooner  or  later 
must  force  itself  upon  our  notice;  and  it  is  highly  important  that  when  such 
experiments  are  made  they  should  be  conducted  by  or  under  the  control  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture. 

Ten  years  later  Mr.  Alexander  Craw,  quarantine  officer  of  the  Cali- 
fornia State  board  of  horticulture,  again  called  attention  to  the  need 
of  legislation,  and  in  his  annual  report  for  1896  recommended  the  pas- 
sage by  Congress  of  a  stringent  law  preventing  the  introduction  of 
noxious  animals. 

At  present  there  is  no  Federal  statute  on  the  subject,  and  appar- 
ently California  is  the  only  State  which  has  given  the  matter  serious 
attention  or  has  taken  steps  to  prevent  thoughtless  or  intentional 
importation  of  injurious  species.  In  the  act  creating  the  State  board 
of  horticulture,  approved  March  13, 1883,  and  amended  March  8, 1889, 
anl  lioiity  was  conferred  on  the  board  to  make  regulations  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preventing  the  spread  of  fruit  pests.  In  accordance  with  this 
act,  certain  quarantine  regulations  were  adopted  on  August  15,  1894, 
one  of  which,  Rule  XII,  provides  that  "animals  known  as  flying  fox, 
Australian  or  English  wild  rabbit,  or  other  animals  or  birds  detri- 
mental to  fruit  or  fruit  trees,  plants,  etc.,  are  prohibited  from  being 
brought  or  landed  in  this  State,  and  if  brought,  they  shall  be 
destroyed."2  This  law  has  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  several 
flying  foxes  and,  so  far  as  known,  every  mongoose  thus  far  brought  to 
the  porl  <>i  San  Francisco.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  too  much  to  say  that 
to  this  regulation  and  to  the  vigilance  of  the  quarantine  officer  at  San 
Francisco  the  State  owes  its  present  freedom  from  the  mongoose. 

The  action  of  Cape  Colony  and  Western  Australia  on  this  question 
stands  out  in  marked  contrast  to  the  apathy  of  other  countries.  Cape 
Colony,  in  1890,  made  it  unlaw  fill  to  introduce  rabbits,  either  by  land 
or  sea.  or  to  turn  'hem  Loose  within  the  colony;3  required  the  rabbits 

'Annual  Report  I  lepartment  of  Agriculture  for  1886,  p.  258. 

Fifth  biennial  Reporl  State  Board  of  Horticulture,  1806,  p.  8. 
3  Under  a  penalty  not  exceeding  5  pounds  for  first  offense  or  10  pounds  for  sec- 
ond offense.     (See  Agr.  Journ.,  ("ape  Town.  Ill,  January  8.  1891,  p.  119.) 


DANGER  OF  INTRODUCING  NOXIOUS  ANIMALS  AND  BIRDS.       109 

already  in  ihe  colony  to  be  c<  ufined  in  hutches  or  boxes  constructed 
according  to  certain  prescribed  regulations,  and  authorized  anyone  to 
destroy  rabbits  found  on  his  premises,  on  Crown  lands,  or  along  pub- 
lic roads.     Western  Australia,  profiting  by  the  experience  of  her  sister 

colonies  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  continent,  has  taken  measures  to 
secure  protection  from  the  evils  of  indiscriminate  and  ill-advised  accli- 
matization by  the  passage  of  the  so-called  "Destructive  birds  and 
animals  act"  (57  Vic,  No.  22).  This  law,  passed  in  1893,  prohibits  the 
introduction  of  all  birds  or  animals  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
governor-in-council,  are  destructive  to  vineyards,  orchards,  fruit  t  ices, 
or  any  agricultural  produce.  The  act  also  prohibits  the  keeping  of 
such  birds  or  animals  on  private  premises,  authorizes  the  destruction 
of  those  already  in  the  colony,  prohibits  the  liberation  of  any  destruc- 
tive bird  or  animal,  and  permits  duly  authorized  officers  to  enter  prem- 
ises for  the  purpose  of  seizing  or  destroying  sueh  birds  or  animals. 
The  term  "destructive"  is  interpreted  to  mean  any  species  to  which 
the  governor-in-council  may  from  time  to  time  extend  the  provisions 
of  the  act  by  proclamation,  and  the  selection  of  species  is  based  mainly 
upon  the  recommendations  of  the  bureau  of  agriculture.1  The  law  is 
therefore  elastic  and  may  be  easiby  modified  when  necessary.  Spar- 
rows and  rabbits  were  originall}'  included  in  1893,  living  foxes  were 
added  in  December,  1895,  and  starlings,  blackbirds,  and  thrushes  in 
January,  1896. 

SUMMARY. 

(1)  Acclimatization  of  plants  differs  from  that  of  animals  since 
plants  are  introduced  for  cultivation  and  thus  kept  to  a  certain  extent 
within  control,  -^hile  animals  are  liberated  and  controlled  only  by 
natural  enemies  or  unfavorable  conditions. 

(2)  Animals  and  birdsare  distributed  from  one  continent  to  another. 
and  to  islands,  either  by  accidental  means  or  by  the  direct  agency  of 
man.  Most  animals  are  intentionally  introduced  into  new  regions, 
cases  of  accidental  dispersion  being  comparatively  rare  except  among 
rats  and  mice. 

(3)  Domesticated  animals,  like  plants,  may  run  wild  and  become 
injurious,  especially  in  regions  where  food  is  abundant  and  natural 
enemies  are  absent.  Goats  and  cats  on  isolated  islands  are  well- 
known  examples. 

(-L)  The  animals  and  birds  which  have  thus  far  proved  most  inju- 
rious are  the  rabbit,  mongoose,  stoat,  weasel,  flying  fox.  English 
sparrow,  starling,  and  niina.  The  skylark,  green  linnet,  black  thrush, 
and  great  titmouse,  or  kohlmeise,  are  of  doubtful  value  and  likely  to 
prove  injurious.  These  species  are  all  natives  of  the  Old  World,  and 
with  the  exception  of  the  mongoose,  mina.and  flying  foxes,  are  inhab- 
itants of  the  temperate  regions  of  Europe  and  western  Asia. 

1  See  Journ.  Bureau  Agr.  Western  Australia,  II,  December  10,  1S95.  pp.  630-631; 
III,  1896,  p.  676. 

lOHOT 3 


110        YEARBOOK    OF    THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    AGRICULTURE. 

(5)  Notwithstanding  the  object  lessons  afforded  by  the  English 
sparrow  in  our  own  country,  the  rabbit  in  Australia,  and  the  mon- 
goose in  Jamaica,  no  steps  have  been  taken  to  prevent  the  repetition 
of  similar  costly  mistakes  in  the  future,  and  at  present  no  restriction 
is  placed  mi  the  indiscriminate  importation  of  exotic  species  into  the 
United  States. 

(6)  Recent  events  have  given  new  importance  to  this  subject.  The 
gradual  increase  of  the  starling  and  the  efforts  to  introduce  the  kohl- 
meise  require  prompl  measures  to  prevent  species  of  such  doubtful 
value  from  gaining  a  foothold  in  this  country.  The  acquisition  of 
new  territory  has  also  brought  us  face  to  face  with  new  problems. 
Not  only  should  the  mongoose  be  prevented  from  reaching  the  United 
States  from  Hawaii  and  Puerto  Rico,  but  the  native  fauna  of  these 
islands  should  be  preserved  and  all  our  island  possessions  protected 
from  ill-advised  acclimatization,  which  has  caused  so  much  loss  in 
Australia  and  New  Zealand. 

(7)  The  introduction  of  exotic  birds  and  mammals  should  be 
resl  ricted  by  law  and  should  be  under  the  control  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture.  Western  Australia  has  already  adopted 
this  course,  and  under  the  "Destructive  birds  and  animals  act"  of 
L893,  prohibits  the  importation,  liberation,  or  keeping  of  animals  and 
birds  which  the  colonial  bureau  of  agriculture  considers  injurious  to 
vineyards,  orchards,  or  crops. 


VD    if' 


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